JOURNAL ARTICLE

"Why Talk About the Children?": James Baldwin, Octavia Butler, and the Future of Care.

  • Published In: American Literary History, 2023, v. 35, n. 1. P. 173 1 of 3

  • Database: Academic Search Ultimate 2 of 3

  • Authored By: Ibrahim, Habiba 3 of 3

Abstract

This essay examines the figurative role of the child—particularly the unborn child—in the Black literary imagination of the 1970s, focusing on James Baldwin's *If Beale Street Could Talk* (1974) and Octavia Butler's *Kindred* (1979). It argues that the child shifts emphasis from nationalist ideals toward the ethics and labor of care, highlighting the interdependence sustaining Black life amid intensified carceral governance and neoliberal pressures. The child functions as a temporal conduit, linking past survival practices, especially Black women's reproductive and domestic labor, with speculative futures beyond patriarchal and nationalist frameworks. Both novels use the child to explore care as a political and ethical foundation for Black democratic possibility during an era marked by disillusionment and structural violence.

Additional Information

  • Source:American Literary History. 2023/03, Vol. 35, Issue 1, p173
  • Document Type:Article
  • Subject Area:Literature and Writing
  • Publication Date:2023
  • ISSN:0896-7148
  • DOI:10.1093/alh/ajac249
  • Accession Number:162272363
  • Copyright Statement:Copyright of American Literary History is the property of Oxford University Press / USA and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

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